A Book to Color, first story was the second licensed Star Trek: The Original Series story. Published by Saalfield Publishing in 1967, it was the first of three untitled coloring book stories appearing in the anthology A Book to Color. The story was subsequently revised in 1975 with added details and changes to the sequence of events.
In this story, the USS Enterprise rediscovered a lost planet of circus performers.
Summary[]
Nyota Uhura detects what appears to be a floating circus tent and a man on a flying carpet. Records suggest that a nearby lost planet could be inhabited by circus performers. They beam down and are welcomed by natives, all of whom appear happy and are dressed as part of a circus. A police officer tells them to blend in if they want to visit.
A native provides them with a variety of clothing, so Spock dresses as a pirate with an eye patch, Leonard McCoy as a dog trainer, Hikaru Sulu as an acrobat, and James T. Kirk and Nyota Uhura as clowns. The landing party sees that farms are well-kept and crops are healthy. They see a unicycle rider, an elephant being washed, and a pair of clowns singing a duet. Before they depart, they are reminded that being thoughtful and kind leads to happiness.
References[]
Characters[]
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • unicycle
Locations[]
- Omicron
- Referenced only
- Earth (Starfleet Headquarters) • Venus
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • clown • king • police officer • Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s)
Other references[]
- assignment patch • beam • book • bridge • castle • circus • dog • doughnut • elephant • farm • flower • flying carpet • history • humanoid • kingdom • lemonade • pirate • planet • singing • space • starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2265-2270) • transporter room • water • year
Timeline[]
Chronology[]
- The three stories in the anthology took place immediately prior to TOS episode: "This Side of Paradise". At the end of the third story, Kirk referenced the episode.
Production history[]
- 1967
- Printed as the first of three stories in A Book to Color (Saalfield Publishing)
- 1975
- Updated as the first of two stories in the anthology Coloring Book C1862 (Saalfield Publishing)
Appendices[]
Background[]
- Burton Marks updated the story for the 1975 edition. (Star Trek coloring books article at the Star Trek Comics Checklist website)
- The illustrations of Nyota Uhura looked more like Christine Chapel than Nichelle Nichols. (TOS reference: New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics)
- Leonard McCoy was not drawn to resemble DeForest Kelley.
- Spock would also dress as a pirate in Gold Key Comics' "The Flight of the Buccaneer" and Marvel Comics' "A Thousand Deaths", then became the pirate Black Fire in TOS novel: Black Fire. Kirk stated, "I always thought Spock was a bit of a pirate at heart" in TOS episode: "Mirror, Mirror".
Edition differences[]
- Natives' history
- In the 1967 edition, records reported that a lost spacecraft of circus performers en route to Venus in the 18th century became stranded on an unknown planet. The flying circus tent illustration represented a vessel that the Enterprise followed back to the planet, the location where the performers' descendants lived.
- In the 1975 edition, a planet of circus performers mysteriously disappeared in the 2160s, and when the Enterprise came across a planet that looked like a floating circus tent, the planet was rediscovered. Using the circus tent illustration to represent a planet raised the question of how and why the planet looked that way. Possibly it was holographically generated, such as the projected serpent image around Kukulkan's starship, or simply artistic license. Imaging technology might explain why the planet had disappeared.
- Dressing up
- In the 1967 edition, the landing party dressed in circus clothes prior to beaming down to blend in. When the police officer asked who they were, they removed the outfits and revealed that they were explorers from Earth who wanted to learn about their culture without causing any interference.
- In the 1975 edition, they beamed down in Starfleet uniforms, but the police officer encouraged them to dress in circus clothes.
- Natives' reaction to intruders
- Use of "Omicron"
- In the 1967 edition, the third story of the anthology used it to refer to Omicron Ceti III and the events of TOS episode: "This Side of Paradise".
- In the 1975 edition, Omicron was the name of the circus performers' planet.
- Character introductions
- In the 1967 edition, James T. Kirk, Spock, Nyota Uhura, and Hikaru Sulu were introduced by name, with Uhura misspelled as Uhara. Leonard McCoy was labeled only as the ship's doctor.
- In the 1975 edition, Sulu and McCoy were left unnamed.
Related stories[]
- TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure – In 2264, the ship ferried a troupe of circus performers.
Images[]
Connections[]
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: first story |
TOS coloring book stories by Saalfield Publishing | Next story: A Book to Color, second story |
External link[]
- A Book to Color, first story article at PlaidStallions website.